Vested Interests
by Zero Harmony
Summary: Outnumbered, outgunned, and lost, Sally and Manic must fight for their survival in the depths of Eggman's fortress city. Obviously, it is at such an inconvenient moment that certain feelings make themselves known. AU. Sally/Manic.
1. How Manic met Sally

**Author Note: Hello, and welcome to a story that exists only because nobody seems to do this as a main pairing. Funny though, it's _much_ more action than romance, but then that's how I saw this ship working. Leave a review if you want the story to continue with even more explosive fights.**

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Chapter 1: How Manic met Sally

"You know, the least he could have done was warn us he was still alive." Manic said, spraying a burst of lasers at the robots marching down the hall. "I mean, besides not taking every single person who's actually good at fighting Eggman." He ducked behind the corner as return fire came back at him, taking his time to look at the squirrel he was addressing. "To be fair though, G.U.N. _did_ go down like chumps."

"So why are you complaining to me?" the squirrel said.

"Well, Sonic was your boyfriend." The green hedgehog pointed out. Sally swung around the corner and let loose a precise burst of laser-fire, taking out the front three machines.

"You do realize there was a reason we broke up?"

"Hey, from what I can tell he was basically just doing his duty. It's not like the rest of you could take the island." Sally ducked back and grunted.

"You don't need to remind me."

"But seriously, that is nowhere near as bad as abandoning his family and his r_eal_ job so he could hang out with a girl who wears no pants."

"THERE WAS NOTHING THAT FIT!" Sally roared, poking out and wildly spraying fire down the hall, destroying every last robot in it.

OOOOOOOOOO

It had been a year after Eggman's supposed death, and Sonic and the rest of the world's main defenders had been investigating the recent "Marauder" attacks. During this time a wormhole was ripped open in the sky over Eggman's old citadel, and had begun to suck in loose debris and orbiting objects that came too close. After its appearance Sonic and his crew were never heard from again. Six months afterwards Eggman suddenly appeared on every TV screen in the world, announcing Sonic's departure to the Twilight Cage and his own survival. He launched a series of strikes that quickly crippled G.U.N. and any other nation's personal army. In short order he had taken more of the planet than he had ever ruled before, leaving only a few small pockets of resistance. As his final claim to authority he once again seated himself on the throne of Mobodoon. It had been two years since then.

OOOOOOOOOO

Manic and Sally reached the elevator at the end of the hallway and took it to the top-most levels of the factory. Unfortunately it would not take them all the way to the roof. When the door opened a helicopter-topped hover drone was waiting, only to be torn apart by the combined fire of the hedgehog and the squirrel.

"I take right, you take left." Sally said as they began to run over the factory catwalk.

More hover-drones came from the murky rafter tops above them, hard pressing the pair as they shot wildly to cover themselves. Manic shoved Sally to the floor in time for a bolt to go over her head. He dragged her up and dashed to a crane booth near the middle of the catwalk. When they got in Sally slapped him in the face

"Ah. What was that for?" Manic muttered.

"For not letting me handle myself."

"Your welcome."

OOOOOOOOOO

It had been a simple plan: go in, blow up the factory, get out. Manic had been in a completely different unit in charge of providing a distraction, something he was usually good at. But his time it didn't work. Eggman had simply let Manic run rampant and ordered his machines to assault the factory, forcing Sally to call in Manic for help. The fighting had been fierce, and they were the only two left alive and free.

OOOOOOOOOO

Manic looked out the booth's window, ignoring the hover-drones to look at the factory floor below.

"Sally," He said "We need to get out of here."

"We already know that." She growled. Why did Manic always have to act so stupid? He was worse than his brother had ever been, and even more desperately called upon with the revolution's lack of overall firepower. Manic pointed to the window, and Sally went over to see a squad of swatbots armed with missile launchers gathering on the factory floor.

"They're kinda' bringing up the heavy artillery." The squirrel glanced at the drones swarming around the booth, ready to fire at a second's notice. She frowned and looked back at Manic. Come to think about it, she couldn't recall why she had started putting him on combat missions. She put it down to mistaking him for his brother and filed the thought away.

"We'll have to run for it." She said.

"Yep."

They went to the door and wrenched it open, firing as soon as the gap appeared. They turned and began the mad dash to the catwalk's end, ducking to avoid the lasers and missiles. The catwalk shuddered as a stray missile destroyed the back part, knocking Manic and Sally flat. They struggled to get up as the catwalk began to creak and groan, seeing the other end close by. A sudden shudder through the metal jolted them into running. They felt as a missile struck right behind them, and jumped away from the fireball.

OOOOOOOOOO

The first thing Sally felt was the warmth. It reminded her of how Sonic used to hug her when the stress of her role started to become too much for her. Funnily enough, it actually felt like she was being hugged _now_. She opened her eyes and found herself pressed against Manic's face

_ Slap!_

"Ah. What was that for?" Manic muttered. Sally pushed herself the rest of the way up and got off of him.

"For… being a perv." She finally said.

"I was just trying to cushion your fall." Manic said, giving an apologetic smile. "I did not plan to get knocked out."

"Don't do it again." Sally finally began to take in their surroundings. The room was dark and cement walled, the lights flickered and barely illuminated, and there seemed to be trash everywhere. "Where are we?"

"I guess we fell down the garbage chute." Manic said, patting the pile of rubbish underneath of him. "Definitely some kind of basement section."

"If we fell that far we'd be dead." Even as Sally said it, she began to recollect stumbling into a not entirely vertical chute and when Manic had hugged her… She shook her head and straightened up. "We still need a way out," she said and turned to start poking through the rubbish. "And we need to find our guns. Now would be a good time to get your drums working, by the way." Manic simply groaned as he stood up.

"How many times do I have to say this?" The prince said. "I need my siblings to make them work."

"Really?" Sally asked. She had never heard that.

"Yeah something about family unity or… stuff. It's was on the fritz ever since Sonic left to hang out with you, and it just died when he took his little trip."

"It's not my fault."

"Never said it was." Manic added defensively. Sally grunted and sat down. Nothing. They were outnumbered and unarmed in enemy territory. Manic's head twitched around.

"They're coming." He said.

OOOOOOOOOO

Manic panted as he ran behind Sally. Now was the worst time to think about it, but he could completely understand why Sonic had liked her so much. Not-wearing-clothes aside, she was still very well built, and had a good face on top of it. It was even better when she got annoyed. There was also something about her bossiness that attracted him, though for the life of him he couldn't think of why. A pity they couldn't have met more before Eggman took over again. Manic felt a flash of heat go by his head. Obviously the robots were catching up.

Sally turned her head frantically, looking for some branch they could turn onto, but nothing appeared. Another laser went between her and Manic's head. Thankfully Eggman's robots still weren't good at shooting running targets, though they had been getting faster every year. Sally and Manic had both gotten much experience in moving fast from Sonic and could outpace the robots for now, but they could only run for so long before they became too tired to keep going. The hallway twisted suddenly and they found themselves facing a second squad of machines, bulbous combat robots with hand held lasers.

Manic was the first to react, ducking under the gun of the closest robot and kicking out its thin legs. Sally grabbed one by the arm as it charged her, shifting its momentum into one of the ones behind them, knocking both over. Manic had scooped up one of the guns and began firing into the robots still in front, ducking through them to avoid their fire. Sally grabbed a gun herself and ducked as a robot fired at her, letting the bolt destroy a different machine behind her. She opened fire, and helped finish off the machines. Sally nodded as she met back up with Manic. They had weapons now, and the green hedgehog hadn't been hurt. Now all they needed was a way out.

OOOOOOOOOO

The guard swatbot turned around the first time it thought it heard something. After doing so its sensors failed to register anything, so it recorded the instance as an error and continued down the hallway. Two Extreme-High Priority Targets were still present and unaccounted for in the factory. The robot, however, had been active for twelve hours and was due to be replaced by a fully charged machine. As it neared the upper levels, it barely heard the whine of a charging laser.

OOOOOOOOOO

"We're good." Manic called back to Sally, letting her catch up with him. He had gone first because. after all, he was the more stealthy of the two. He let Sally lead the way through the door and followed after her.

The working light temporarily blinded Sally, and she almost didn't see it: a robot, gun ready, aiming straight at her. She felt a hand from behind push her back as Manic jumped in front of her, gun firing at the same time as the machine's. A smoking gap was left in the machine, and a smoking mark on Manic's side. He gasped and fell to the ground, grunting in pain as he grabbed the wound.

"Are you alright?" Sally found herself saying as she ran over to Manic and helped him up.

"Just a flesh wound." The former thief said between his teeth, letting out a litany of curses as he straightened himself. "I've seen worse."

"Why did you do that!" Sally yelled, regaining her composure. "I could have dodged that on my own."

"Let's just say I had a vested interest involved, okay? Thanks for the thought though."

Manic quickly turned around and kissed Sally, before turning back and heading through the exit. The squirrel was left shaking where she stood.

She was going to kill him. When this was over, she was seriously going to kill him. The sheer nerve… utterly worse than his brother. And he was going the wrong way.

"Manic!" She yelled. "City limit's the other way."

"I know." Manic called back. "But we still need to break out everyone else." Sally sighed. He was right: it was their duty as leaders, but she did not want to admit it. "Well? Come on. It's gonna' be a long walk."


	2. Obligatory Chase Scene

**Author Note: Alongside popular demand the story continues. While this chapter is a bit light on exposition, it is without a doubt my favorite action scene I have ever written. The last chapter, which I finally finished in a night and a day after months of writer's block, should go up next week, by when I should be moved into college.**

**Have fun reading and try to leave a helpful review.**

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Obligatory Chase Scene

"Morning." Manic said. Sally blinked open her eyes and began pulling herself up.

"You were supposed to wake me up for the last watch." She said, piecing her mind together after a very disturbing dream.

"Forgot." Manic said, giving a sheepish smile. Sally shook her head and checked her gun. It was still at half power.

After escaping the factory they had found that night was fast approaching, and they knew that their flesh-and-blood bodies wouldn't move as well in the darkness. Manic led the way out of the bombed out bunker they had used as a shelter.

The goal was insane: rescue their captured comrades from Eggman's citadel, something that had never been done since Sonic left. The journey would take days and they would probably die during it.

OOOOOOOOOO

Sally pushed Manic into an alleyway as something flew overhead.

"Mounted swatbots." She said, pointing at a robot on a hover bike.

"Just what we need." Manic said with too much enthusiasm.

"You are not thinking-"

"Why not? It's fast mobile, and I'd only give us a few more hours to avoid being caught anyways. Besides, we don't want to get there too late." Manic straightened his face as he added the last point. Sally sighed and looked down.

"How do you even think we can catch one?"

"Simple…"

OOOOOOOOOO

The swatbot rode over its route again, looking for the two Extreme High Priority Targets. Its processors registered the probability of finding them as low, but then it heard something.

"OH NOOO!"

The robot looked down and saw the green hedgehog it was looking for pointing straight at it. The swatbot put its bike into a dive and chased the hedgehog into an alley. The darkness hid the tripwire that had been placed at around head height.

OOOOOOOOOO

"Why did you even have tripwire?" Sally asked as she pulled in the bike. After the rider was dismounted it had crashed into a pile of boxes at the end of the alley they had chosen for their trap, but was still slightly damaged.

"It can be useful." Manic said, going to work to make sure the bike would run. "Keep an eye out. It'll only be a few minutes before this place is swarming with 'bots."

"Just fix it." Sally said.

"Anything you say." Manic took the time to mentally slap himself for that one, saving Sally the trouble. He could tell she was still thinking of strangling him for the kiss, and did not want to aggravate her any more. On the other hand he still felt it was totally worth it…

Manic shook his head and went back to focusing on the bike. As he started placing the last plate he heard the sound of more hover bikes coming closer.

"I'll drive." Manic said, planting himself on the seat. "Get on back and hold tight." Sally climbed onto the back of the bike and wrapped her arms Manic's chest. _He'd better not take this the wrong way._ She thought. The swatbots were almost on top of them.

"Here we go!" Manic yelled, slamming tight the bike's accelerator.

The bike shot out of the alleyway and into the air, passing between the two bikers in front of them. Sally's head whipped back to see them collide with a second pair of bikes and explode. Her head was jerked back and forth as Manic weaved through another squadron of mounted swatbots, traveling along a rode large enough to be a highway. The robots' bikes twisted around to pursue them.

"Blast 'em." Manic yelled over the wind. Sally grappled with her gun and turned, holding herself up with one arm still around Manic and the other on her gun. She fired wildly, unable to aim with only one arm. Even then a few shots found their mark, detonating bike engines or sniping off swatbots, leaving the bikes flying wild. It barely dented the mass of swatbots that was now chasing them.

Manic banked the bike and shot off into an alleyway, momentum bringing them dangerously close to the wall. Sally held tight as they passed through the gap in a fire escape. There was a flash of heat and Sally opened her eyes to see the smoke and debris from where a swatbot had not been as lucky.

Manic turned out into a narrow road, and immediately another pack of swatbots was upon them. Sally yelled as she fired into them, getting louder with each hit she managed to score.

"Trouble!" Manic shouted. The city blurred as Manic twisted the bike around as sharply as possible, turning to face the pack of swatbots chasing them. Sally's eyes widened as she saw the hover skiffs in front of where they had been heading. The skiffs were open-topped and covered in egg pawns with missile launchers. They took a second of simply pointing at the bike, and then launched a salvo of missiles that twisted around to hit it.

"Dodge!" Sally yelled, shaking Manic.

"Can't." Manic said. "Concentrate on the ones in front." She couldn't think of how it could be any worse. Grudgingly, Sally turned around and wrapped her around Manic to brace her gun and fired forwards. The machines in front of them exploded and fell away, opening a channel through the horde. Manic drove straight through, with Sally destroying everything in their way. The horde of swatbots quickly closed behind them to surround them.

The missiles hit them square, blowing out the back of the horde. Survival protocols went on the fritz as the swat bots tried to balance the Extreme High Priority Targets with the seeming attack from their own forces. Manic and Sally left their pursuer behind as the robots started to attack each other, and the road stretched clear before them.

Manic and Sally laughed. Laughed at the ludicrous plan that let them escape, laughed at it working, laughed at still being alive. Sally fell and let Manic's body support her.

There was a crackling as speakers throughout the city cleared. The laughter stopped.

"I'm afraid I can't let you go any farther, kids." The voice was familiar, distorted and multiplied though it was, filled with ego, ambition, and mild annoyance: Dr. Eggman. The road opened up onto a bridge and the two rebels saw a shadow fall over them. "Egg Eagle, attack! Show them your fury."

It was huge and, predictably for the mad scientist, actually shaped like an eagle. Each wing held a pair of gun turrets on the under side, a rack of Missiles lay on the back, and the open "beak" held what could only be called a Gatling cannon. A swarm of smaller bird drones surrounded it, each no bigger than a mobian but clearly not roboticized. As Eggman gave the sound to attack the smaller machines moved away from the eagle and dove toward Sally and Manic.

Sally turned and fired, but the drones were nimbler than the mounted swatbots had been, and Manic's movements with the bike were even more unpredictable as he tried to dodge the drones' fire. After twenty shots she had only hit one, but she counted at least ten, maybe more, left. The Eagle itself had slowly been diving lower after they passed the highest point of the bridge, and its wing-mounts pointed down and opened up on them, raining streams of bullets after them.

Sally grinned as she shot to the left of a drone and it dodge directly into the Eagle's line of fire. The sound of it being shredded to pieces in seconds made Manic dodge all the more quickly, especially as the entered onto a confined city street once again, ruining any chance Sally had of aiming. She held the trigger down and sprayed laser bolts at the bird drones, getting one, then a second, then a third before her gun suddenly stopped.

"I'm out." She yelled to Manic as she dropped the now worthless gun into the streets below. Manic cursed and jerked them into a side alley as the Eagle's fire nearly surrounded them. The drones turned to follow, but one caught the corner of a building and lost a wing, spinning and exploding as it hit the ground. The "Alley" sloped up into an overpass, leaving them out in the open.

Manic jerked the bike wildly as the Egg Eagle swopped in closer behind them, coming down as low as they were, finally unleashing its full fire power. The remaining drones were torn apart by the bullets and missiles that filled the air.

"Take my gun." Sally bit back a blush as she reached between Manic's legs, grabbing his gun from where he had stashed it. She turned and took careful aim, confident that the Egg Eagle's armor would be too strong for the gun. The missile rack, however… Sally squeezed the trigger and let loose a shot. It was too low, hitting the Eagle's head and leaving a smoking hole going straight through.

"Well, dang." Sally said. She fired again and again, worried only about hitting something. A turret broke off, and one of the wing tips started smoking. Then there was the sound of thunder in the distance.

"I can see it." Manic yelled. Sally glanced back to the tower that dominated Eggman's fortress, made in his own image. The turrets that surrounded the fortress also happened to be firing at them. Explosions rained around them, and Manic did his best to dodge.

"What are you doing?" Sally yelled in frustration. "It's artillery. It's inaccurate to begin with, and if we just move straight forward we'll outpace anywhere it aims at.

"What about-" Manic's coming question was rendered moot as an artillery shell landed directly on the Egg Eagle's missile rack, transforming it into a single gargantuan explosion. Manic took the hint and hit the accelerator as hard as possible, sending them flying straight forward, off the over pass and into the final approach to Eggman's fortress, artillery shells raining down around them.

The gate was before them, closing rapidly. Manic grit his teeth as they finally became too close for the artillery fire, and it was only the rebels and the ever-closing gate. The gap seemed to be too small to make it through, but Manic pushed forward heedlessly, pressing down the accelerator in the vain hope of even a fraction more speed. Sally closed her eyes and held him tight to brace for the impact.

There was a dissonant screech of metal on metal, and then Sally felt as they were thrown wide and hit the ground hard, tumbling over until she came to lay on her back. Sally waited a second until she opened her eyes, surprised to be looking up at the smog filled clouds that showed she was still alive, and inside Eggman's fortress at that. Manic had already gotten back up to his feet, and gave her a hand as she stood up.

"You made it?" She said, still rather shaken and elated at being still alive.

"Yep." Manic said.

"That was amazing." She said, leaning over and pecking him on the cheek. "Where'd you learn to-" Sally's hands shot over her mouth as her head translated what she had just done.

"Not my fault!" Manic said quickly.

"If you tell anyone…" Sally began, leaving the actual threat to the imagination.

"Only if you let me off for mine." Manic said.

"Fine." Sally said, desperate to cover up her gaff.

"Well now that that's all settled," Manic said, looking up at Eggman's tower.

"Here comes the hard part."


	3. Having Fun Storming The Castle

**Author Note: Well, here is the grand finale. I'll admit i wasn't entirely satisfied with this chapter, but I don't think I currently could have done a better job. _Please_ tell me what you think after reading it.**

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Having Fun Storming the Castle

Sally followed after Manic as they infiltrated further into the fortress. Unlike Sonic or his friends, they didn't have the power to storm through Eggman's myriad armies and traps without pause, so the two were forced to make their way in using stealth. Sally had been left with the gun, being the better shot and the worse infiltrator. That, and her mind was still too distracted. Why the heck had she... done That to Manic? She didn't even like him. At least, she never thought she had.

Physically he was fine, with taut but not over built muscles and a well shaped face, but that couldn't cover the fact that he was a cocky idiot with nearly zero respect for authority. A lot like her old boyfriend actually.

Manic motioned Sally back as another guard robot passed down the hallway.

"There's not enough." Manic said.

"They're all by the cells." Sally said, breaking out of her internal monologue. "We'll need more weapons before we approach that trap."

"But where?" Manic asked. "If we attack any robots we'll be found." Sally shook her head and muttered a curse. They couldn't make it this far and then just die still trying to make a plan.

"How fast can you run?" She asked.

"Pretty fast if I need to be." Manic said. "Not as fast as Sonic but-"

"Could you find somewhere to hide if you needed to?" Sally asked.

"Honestly-" Manic started and then paused as his thoughts ran full circle. Someone with as many enemies as Eggman was bound to riddle their bases with cameras and any other kind of detection device. His eyes widened as he looked Sally in the face. "We've been screwed since we walked in the door."

Maniacal laughter filled the hallways.

"How entertaining." Eggman's voice said. "I was wondering how long I could lead you on. Go! Skewer them!" A squadron of attack robots came from the hallway behind the pair of freedom fighters and Manic grabbed Sally's arm to pull her out into another hallway. Robots came from the intersecting pathways.

"He's trying to herd us." Sally yelled, reversing the grip so she could pull Manic with as she charged through the new squad of robots, taking them down with her gun.

"Man, couldn't they have had guns?" Manic said as they carried through into the next intersection. A pair of energy bolts flew an inch over their heads, and Sally turned to shoot down the robots responsible.

"Next time you think of something, just don't say it." She hissed. Manic scooped up the fallen machines' weapons as the pair passed over them, continuing their desperate run. A squad of lance-wielding robots dropped down in front of them, only to be mowed down by Sally.

The pair ran onward into a open circular room that extended upward until the roof was lost in darkness. A single figure stood in the center, illuminated by a spotlight that let its blue and silver features shine. Manic and Sally skidded to a stop as they both recognized the shape.

"Sonic?" Sally asked.

"Why thank you." The figure said in a grating metallic voice, turning on its cold red eyes. The figure raised a spiky metal arm to gesture at a door behind it. "The prisoners you seek are behind this door. You will not reach it." Manic dared a glance behind himself only to see another squad of attack robots coming down the hallway behind the pair of Freedom Fighters.

"No!" Suddenly Sally had grabbed Manic's arm and pulled him aside, letting him watch as a spinning blue buzzsaw flew past and cut through the attack robots like they were butter. Metal Sonic uncurled to slow himself on the ground, and Sally took the chance to open fire. The robot doppleganger didn't flinch as the energy bolts hit his armor and rebounded off, scorching the walls of the hallway.

"Of all people, what makes you two think you can fight me?" Metal Sonic said as he readied his jets. Manic shoved Sally aside and shouted a challenge.

"Let me show you." Manic tensed as Metal Sonic rocketed forward, sidestepping as the machine started to become a blur. As hard metal hit his reinforced shoe Manic grinned and pushed into it. _Who does he think I practiced fighting with? _Metal Sonic became unbalanced as his foot was pushed aside and he tried to twist around to attack, only for a spiked bracelet to hit his head and knock him to the ground. "Get him." Manic barked.

Sally spun around and took the split second to aim, hitting Metal Sonic in an eye. The robot let out an incoherent burst of static as a beam of energy lanced out of its chest, forcing Manic and Sally to jump apart. The machine flipped up vertical, looking back and forth between his two opponents. The eye that had been hit was not gone, but it was cracked and blackened by the bolt's impact. The Doctor's voice rang throughout the chamber, filled with petulant rage.

"What are you doing? Destroy these scum."

Metal Sonic answered with a scream of static and the roar of his turbine as he rocketed forward. He became a blazing fireball that Sally barely managed to dodge, racing past her and crashing into the far wall. Sally watched as the wall caved in where Metal Sonic hit it, and began working out a plan to stop the war machine. Sally began running towards a patch of blinking lights on the wall, daring Metal Sonic to attack.

"You're too slow." She yelled. Metal Sonic groaned out each word of its response as it pulled its head out of the wall.

"I will rend the flesh from your joints and grind your bones to dust!" The blue machine charged at her recklessly, and Sally didn't even realize it had attacked until Manic had pulled her to the ground and she felt the shrapnel from Metal Sonic's collision with the wall.

"Are you crazy?" Manic hissed, already standing up to protect her. Before Sally could answer more screams came from Metal Sonic as electrical current meant for the whole building flooded through his frame to reach the other end of the wires he had cut through.

"Hot-wire the cartridge." Sally said as she began to push herself off the ground. Manic nodded and picked up her gun and detached the circular energy cartridge, taking out wires from his pack. Walking over to the still entrapped Metal Sonic, Manic knocked him down with a single blow from a spiked cuff. Manic put the last wire into place and shoved the modified cartridge into Metal Sonic's chest. He joined Sally and they walked to the door to the prison. The energy inside the cartridge was conducted into the wire only to be routed back into the cartridge, causing it to start destabilizing. Metal Sonic desperately tried to recover his internal systems from the electrical overload, unaware of the danger he was in. The cartridge finally overloaded and burst, cracking Metal Sonic's own, more powerful internal reactor.

Sally and Manic didn't look back as Metal Sonic exploded in a cloud of blue plasma. Eggman would rebuild him eventually, but for today they had won.

The door opened immediately for them, and they were greeted to the welcome sight of unguarded prison capsules. The pair quickly opened up the occupied capsules and helped the prisoners back onto their feet.

"Oh thank god." A cat said as Sally helped her to her feet. "I thought we were all goners."

"We're not out yet." Sally said as she moved on to helping the next prisoner.

"Who are we kidding?" Manic said cheerfully as he helped a pangolin regain his balance. "Eggman probably put all his planning into leading us to Metal Sonic. Compared to that it will be a cakewalk to get out."

OOOOOOOOOO

In between the flurry of organization and commands that was expected of rebel leaders, Sally and Manic found themselves sitting together on a bench in one of the few remaining parks in the world. In the end all but two of the freedom fights were able to return home, along with many other prisoners brought to safety, and no one was subjected to the roboticizer. Death was a part of war, and the mourning for their fallen comrades was over and done. Now there were less important things to discuss.

"Sally," Manic began hesitantly, unsure whether he'd keep his head for this. "why did you kiss me?"

"Adrenaline." She replied briskly, turning away to hide her blush. "Besides, I think I have more right to ask that than you do."

"Is 'you're hot' too simple?" Manic asked.

"Yes!" Sally said sharply. She'd given him a little more credit than that.

"Well..." Manic paused, unsure of his own answer. Finally he decided to say what he thought of first. "It's kind of nice to have someone take things seriously, you know? If it's a war I want to fight beside people who act like it's a war. People who get why an army needs to be organized. That, and you really are good looking." Manic said the last line with a smirk, to show he wasn't being philosophical anymore.

Sally blushed in return, surprised at how highly Manic thought of her. She'd never admit it, but she always wanted someone to lighten the mood when she couldn't, someone who _didn't _take the fighting seriously.

"I... kind of like you too." She admitted, seeing no point in ignoring it anymore. Manic looked dumbfounded more than anything else.

"What?" He finally asked, never thinking she would say such a thing.

"I guess I just like bad boys." She said, leaning her head on his shoulder.

"Really?" Manic asked, not entirely sure he was awake.

"We can try at least." Sally said. "Besides, I'm the princess of Acorn, you're the prince of Mobodoon. Our parents probably have the wedding planned already."


End file.
